Page 28 of Elemental Truth (Mysterious Fields #3)

28

IN THE MILL

V itus had not been at all sure what to do. When Thessaly had thrown his talisman back to him, though, he’d taken the hint. He’d pulled the thick chain over his head, then tucked himself around the corner of the mill, where there was less chance of some charm going astray.

As the figure disappeared down the path, Thessaly braced her hands on her knees, glancing around.

He coughed in the dark. She jumped, and Vitus said, quietly. “When I said I wanted to see you duel, this wasn’t exactly what I meant.”

That, now, that provoked her to slightly hysterical laughter. It didn’t solve any of their problems, but might vent some of the tangled emotions she was probably feeling. Vitus certainly wasn’t sure what he felt, other than glad not to be hexed within an inch of his life, or worse.

She straightened up. “You need to beat him back to the portal. Go, tell the footman you’re done. Someone interrupted you. You locked up. Something like that.”

“And you?” Vitus shifted from foot to foot.

“I’ll make my own way back. There’s an ancient portal at Arundel Castle. I know where it is. Go home. If you need to come see me after that, take the usual roundabout way, but look like you’re going home.”

Vitus let out a puff of breath. “All right. See you soon.” He considered, then held out the talisman. “More use for you.”

She kissed him quickly on the cheek, distracted. He gathered up his satchel and went, because she was right. Best he was out of here before whoever that was coming back with the Guard or footmen or some other complexity. He thought Thessaly might have been following him along the path, at least until they were in sight of the portal. But every time he glanced around, he couldn’t see anything.

The footman looked unnerved. He was standing at attention now. Vitus did his best to sound confident. “I was interrupted in the work, I don’t know by who. I thought it best to lock up and let you know.”

“Sir, pardon.” Vitus didn’t wait for the objections, just setting the portal for the one near home, and going through it. Once he was there, however, it was time to worry. He didn’t want Thessaly to come home to Bryn Glas without being there to meet her. But if the Fortiers wanted to make trouble, it’d look odd if he wasn’t at home.

He stopped in the house, partly to change clothing entirely, bundling up what he’d been wearing. There were ways to trace someone magically, but he’d had permission to be there. It wouldn’t be a problem if that showed on his clothes. Now, he packed up his tools and a change of clothing into his satchel, nothing that would be obvious in transit. He came down through the library to find his mother knitting.

“I’m going out again, Mama.” Vitus bent to kiss her cheek. “If anyone comes looking for me, if it’s not Thessaly or her companion, I’m out. You think I’m in Trellech, but I said something about catching up with a friend.”

His mother raised one eyebrow. “As you said, Vitus. Are you all right?”

Vitus did not know at all how to answer that. “It’s complicated. Not injured, though, and I shouldn’t be in any trouble.”

“That’s the sort of answer I expect from your brother. Will you tell me when you can?” That was what she asked Lucas, what she’d asked Lucas for years. Vitus nodded, and she smiled. “Go on, then. Take care of yourself, please.”

From there, Vitus made his way through several portal loops, first to Trellech, then to London, then to Brighton. Finally, he set the portal back to Bryn Glas, hoping that would confuse anyone trying to trace or follow him enough, given the busy portals. He turned up at the house around nine at night, to find Emeline pacing back and forth in the front hallway.

“Where is she?” Emeline wheeled to look at him.

“She was walking to the Arundel Castle portal.” He considered the time. “That’s what, five miles? An hour and a half’s walk.”

“Not Arundel.” There was something flat and dangerous. “You let her go on her own.”

“I had to make a show of coming back. We— she— didn’t want to risk being noticed. Also, I’m not going to argue with her. She’s really a phenomenal duellist, isn’t she?”

Something in Emeline’s expression softened, then hardened immediately. “What were you doing that you saw her duelling?”

“If she didn’t tell you her plans, there’s a reason for it.” Vitus could feel his resolve shaking, but Thessaly hadn’t told Emeline, clearly. And it wasn’t up to Vitus to decide to do that. “But I’ll sit here and wait with you?”

“All right.” There was then a good twenty minutes of awkward waiting. Emeline paced, Vitus sat, and every offer of tea Collins made was rebuffed. Around twenty to ten, the door opened. Emeline wheeled around, but as soon as she realised it was Thessaly, she was circling, checking her. “You duelled.” Emeline didn’t make it a question.

“Duelled and then walked five miles. I’m fine, not much connected.” Thessaly sounded exhausted.

“You let me judge that. You, wait here.” That was to Vitus. “You, upstairs and into a bath, once I’ve looked you over.” Vitus opened his mouth and closed it again. Thessaly gave in, with no sort of argument.

Thirty minutes later, Emeline came downstairs, carrying an armful of clothing. “You can go up if you like. Don’t keep her up.” Vitus stood, rather stiffly, and she added, “She’s all right. Just— ah, go talk.” That was kinder, then.

“Thank you for making sure.” Vitus gathered himself, his bag, and went padding upstairs. He took his shoes off, leaving his satchel in the sitting room, before going through to the bedroom. Thessaly was lying flat on her back, her feet up on some pillows, arms spread across most of the bed.

She lifted her head at the sound of him coming in, then wriggled one of her hands. “Come, please? Was it awful, waiting?”

“A bit.” Vitus shrugged out of his jacket, then, when she waved her fingers again, out of the rest of his clothing, slipping into bed beside her under the covers. “I think I made the right noises at the footman at the portal, that someone had interrupted me. I locked up. I was going away now. But I didn’t wait to see if he had any questions.”

“That was the right choice.” Thessaly shifted, and Vitus settled on his side, facing her, so he could lace his fingers through hers. Awkwardly, given the angles, but the touch mattered right now. To her, too. “It was a long walk back, but no one came after me. I’m very glad I wore my duelling boots, though. I was worried you wouldn’t get away.”

“Who was it?” Now that they’d covered the most essential part, mutual safety, it came bursting out of Vitus. “And that was you, following me back to the portal?”

She blushed rather delightfully. “Yes. And then I went south, cut across a few fields back to the river, and followed it to the castle. Fortunately, there aren’t many people out and about in the countryside at night in January. And most of the livestock was in for the night. I might have startled a badger or two.”

“And Emeline made sure you weren’t hurt.” Vitus asked this one more cautiously, because he was not entirely clear on how much he could reasonably worry.

“Nothing much connected. I’ll have a few aches in the morning. I have a few now. That’s fine.” She lifted her head, stretched one toe toward the ceiling, then flexed her foot. “Moment. My feet are cold now.” She pushed herself sitting, moved the pillows she’d been propping them up on, and then tucked herself under the covers, though she kept her toes away from his feet.

He nudged her foot with one of his. “I’m warmer.”

“Doesn’t seem kind.” She immediately tucked her feet between his shins, though, and he restrained a shiver. Her feet were, in fact, still rather cold, despite a hot bath somewhere in there. “Who do you think that was? I couldn’t tell.”

“Logic strongly suggests one of the Fortiers,” Vitus said. “A lot of that ranting was rather personal, wasn’t it?”

Thessaly wriggled to get closer to him, one arm around his ribs, the other snaking under the pillows. “It was.” She let out a long sigh. “It probably wasn’t Dagobert.”

“He’s not fit for it, is he?” Vitus said. “If he is, he’s been putting on a wonderful show the rest of the time.”

“Excellent point. Whoever that was was free-moving. Well, until the end.” She snickered once. “The last charm, um. Sort of equivalent to kneeing a gentleman in sensitive places proper modest Victorian maidens aren’t supposed to know about.”

That suddenly made the last part of the duel make rather more sense, and Vitus winced, then hugged her tightly. “I’m glad to know you can take care of yourself.”

“You’re not, I don’t know. Unmanned by it?” Now he could hear she was more uncertain.

He paused before answering, kissing her hair gently, hoping the touch, his arms, his presence, would convey as much of what he felt as any words. “Not if you permit me to demonstrate my virtues at some point in the future. You’re the duellist. Part of me wanted to protect you, but it’s foolish when you’ve put so much time into your skill, and that’s not what I’m good at.”

“You protected me in other ways.” Thessaly’s voice was quiet, secure somehow, a kind of security Vitus had heard from Mama and Papa, the kind that was decades of a contented marriage. Knowing what she could expect, and certain it was hers for the asking. “The talisman. Each to our own gifts and talents.”

He certainly had nothing to say to that, even while he felt he’d plunged into a large ocean with no landmarks in sight. He wanted whatever that was, in her voice, with all his heart, and he didn’t know how to make sure it kept being there. Vitus took a deep breath, going on. “If it wasn’t Dagobert, was it Lord Clovis? Sigbert? Someone else?”

“What did you make out of what he was saying? I couldn’t hear all of it properly.” Thessaly moved so he could see she was wrinkling her nose up. “I don’t think it was Lady Maylis, certainly not Lady Chrodechildis, and I’m fairly sure not Laudine. For one thing, I’ve never seen them not in a proper gown, ever.”

“Trousers,” Vitus said, thinking through that. “Have they seen you in duelling clothes?”

“In the past, a couple of times. Or at least they could have. I take your point, though.” Then she nudged him gently. “What was he saying?”

“Nothing kind.” It had played through his mind while he was waiting. “Like he had a claim on you, like I was interfering, taking something that wasn’t mine to take.”

“I heard you say I had a choice. And I heard the bit about him blaming you for Childeric.” Thessaly sighed. “All right. It might have been Lord Clovis. It might have been Sigbert. Only it’s been too long since I duelled Sigbert to be sure. It might have been one of Bradamante’s sons-in-law. There being three on offer this evening, the Percys came over from France for the supper.”

“It doesn’t answer much at all, except that I shouldn’t show my face there without a lot of caution,” Vitus said. “I’ll have to talk that part of it out with Florent. You don’t think it was Florent?”

“Oh, no. I’ve seen him duel. He drags his right foot slightly, no matter how hard he tries not to.” Thessaly seemed very sure, which was a lot of weight to put on one foot. But he had to assume she knew what she was talking about. She added after a moment. “I have a little of the same problem. It’s why I noticed. If I had to bet, I’d think it was Lord Clovis. A little more bulk, a little less nimble, and whoever it was didn’t pull out some of the things we learned at Schola under Professor Trenton.”

“Suggestive,” Vitus agreed. “What are you going to do? When do you need to see them again?”

“Next week. Saturday. Supper, one of the chances for me to spend time with Sigbert and him to be persuasive.” Now, Thessaly pushed up on one elbow. “He will not convince me. I want to be clear about that. Especially not after tonight.”

“Especially?“ Vitus could not follow that logic at all, though to be fair, it had been a rather eventful evening.

“We work well together. Exceedingly well. I don’t want to form that kind of pairing with anyone else, thank you.” She sounded absolutely determined about it, the absolute stubbornness of a small child who didn’t know all the other ways of being in the world.

“Not going to argue with you.” He might have said more, but she yawned ferociously just then. “How about we sleep? Perhaps I can demonstrate my particular kind of manliness in the morning. If you wish.”

“I think I’ll wish. Maybe more than once. Just to make a point.” Thessaly nestled against him and was almost immediately asleep. It left Vitus to lie there, listening to her breath, and quietly be glad that nothing worse had happened that evening. Even if now he was worried about what might come.